Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Today's Mass Readings

Saul was well known in and around Jerusalem as one who was zealous for the Jewish tradition. Trained under the renowned Rabbi Gamaliel, Saul was welcomed into synagogues and asked to preach. He could easily recount the Israelites’ enslavement in Egypt and their escape into Canaan, the Promised Land. Like his contemporaries, Saul awaited the coming of the promised Messiah.

Because Paul came to see Jesus as the fulfillment of that promise, he desired to know Christ more personally. He became a leader in the Church. And when he, like Jesus, was persecuted for preaching The Way, he took his message to the Gentiles.

Paul respected and cherished the Law and the Prophets. But Jesus surpasses the Law and the Prophets. His passion, death, and resurrection point to the very embodiment of God’s will.

Reflection by Br. Jacob Kubajak, OSB